Suicide

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT SUICIDE

A 20-year-old Santa Ana man was found dead on the beach this morning after committing suicide, police said. Andrew Russell was found on the beach at about 7:15 a.m. at the waterline of 16th street and West Oceanfront in Newport Beach after suffering what police referred to as a self -inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to authorities. The shotgun was found next to him on the beach, police said. Police are still investigating. The apparent suicide happened near a neighborhood heavily populated by drug and alcohol rehabilitation homes, but Russell was not a client of any of them, police said.

A man found dead Tuesday morning off the sands of Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort and Marina shot himself with a gun, the county coroner determined. The man, a 21-year-old Las Vegas resident, committed suicide about 11 p.m. Monday at the south beach area of the resort. He had been a guest of the resort’s RV park for the last few days. The coroner’s office has released the man’s name, but the Daily Pilot has a policy not to print the name of suicide victims unless they were a public figure.

Newport Beach police detectives now believe the death of embattled Newport Beach financier Danny Pang was a suicide, a law enforcement official said Saturday. “Our police detectives are of the opinion that the Danny Pang death is a suicide with no evidence of any foul play,” Newport Beach Sgt. Shontel Sherwood said. It could take the Orange County Coroner two to three months to make a ruling as to what caused Pang’s death because the agency is still waiting for toxicology test results, according to a news release.

Further details, including the names of the couple involved, have been released regarding an apparent murder-suicide on Dec. 16 in a Costa Mesa condo. Costa Mesa police said David McClure Bennett, 58, committed suicide after shooting Malinda Jane Barton, 58, in the head at their condo in the 2300 block of Vanguard Way. Police said a friend of Bennett called at about 6:51 p.m. to warn them of disturbing things Bennett had said. "Bennett had confided in a friend that he'd recently been diagnosed with a serious medical condition," Det. Lt. Robert Phillips said.

It’s always hard to understand any time when a young person dies. The young have so much promise, so much potential. So it’s especially disheartening to hear the news this week of Allan Oakley Hunter III, who died after apparently taking his own life while away at college. The former Corona del Mar High student studied at New York University and was widely known for his artistic talents. Why he chose to end his life remains a mystery. Hunter, also known as “Trey,” has left nothing but sadness behind.

A 50-year-old man apparently shot and killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself Saturday evening, according to Costa Mesa police officials. Police officers responded to a call about a woman being shot at a residence in the 2300 block of Vanguard Way at 6:51 p.m.. Officers at the scene then made telephone contact with a man inside a condominium unit. Police said the man threatened the officers over the phone after barricading himself in the residence. The man also fired a gun in their direction, police said.

When a guest demanded a room at Newport Beach's Island Hotel during the afternoon of Oct. 20, employee Andrew Shoashekan thought she was acting odd. On Thursday, almost exactly two months later, Newport Beach police honored Shoashekan for what he did in the next few minutes that day. Shoashekan showed the guest, a woman about 65 or 70 years old, to a room on the eighth floor. The guest immediately went to the balcony and said she wanted something higher. "She was heavily intoxicated," said Shoashekan, a Costa Mesa resident who attended Corona del Mar High School.

Less than an hour before he hanged himself in a holding cell at Newport Beach police headquarters, an inmate called his family to say goodbye, according to a report from the Orange County district attorneys' office released Tuesday. The report cleared the police department of any negligence in the in-custody death last summer of William Robert Wedgeworth, 43, of Newport Beach, whom officers had arrested for alleged domestic violence. In a letter to Police Chief Jay Johnson dated March 7, district attorney investigators concluded that officers were not culpable when Wedgeworth killed himself inside his cell at the headquarters on Santa Barbara Drive, sometime between 9 and 10 p.m. on July 31. Wedgeworth's family has filed multiple claims against the city seeking upward of $34 million from his death.

Q: I've suffered from depression for years, and at least twice have come close to committing suicide. Many factors made me hold back. For the past six years, the longest period since I first sought help, I've been on anti-depressant medication and receive regular therapy. I have no current plans to do myself in and don't want to face that choice again. However, for me, the effects of depression have been so erosive that I believe it can be compared to many long-term physical ailments that are eventually fatal.